The coming “soft” persecution

I had an interesting conversation with a young Catholic gentleman yesterday while making the 10 to 11 hour trip home from Thomas Aquinas College. We took the long way, up Highway 101, due to road construction on I-5 in the south San Joaquin Valley. He asked about the likelihood of persecution of Catholics in the United States. I responded that persecution was likely in the very near future, but that it would be of the “soft” variety rather than firing squads and death camps.

The persecution will likely revolve around the issues of abortion, euthanasia, homosexuality, contraception, and reproductive technology. Already there are many jobs “off limits” to conscientious Catholics. Mrs. Blogmaster is a pharmacist, for example, and unfortunately she can’t just work anywhere. Most retail pharmacies in the cities will not permit her to refuse to dispense objectionable drugs: “conscience” protections are virtually non-existent.

The state of California requires that health insurance cover contraceptives and abortifacients. Therefore, many insurance industry and health care jobs in California are off limits to Catholics who refuse to collaborate with the chemical-induced killing of unborn children. Obamacare’s mandate that all health insurers in the country cover contraceptives, sterilization, and abortifcatients is much more sweeping and restrictive. If not repealed, it will become impossible for thousands to work in the medical and health care fields without directly co-operating with these evils.

Immoral anti-discrimimation laws make working in management and human resources hugely problematic for a conscientious Catholic.

The legal normalization of homosexuality and same-sex “marriage” presents enormous problems. In California, SB-48 requires teachers to introduce “positive” homosexual role models to students in the earliest grades: if fully enforced, this law would result in excluding Catholics from the teaching profession in California, at least in the public schools. When same-sex “marriage” is universalized, co-operation and affirmation will be mandatory throughout society. Already in New Mexico a Christian photography business is being persecuted for refusing to accommodate a same-sex “commitment” ceremony.

Even military service is becoming a problem for a variety of reasons.

In short, it may well become impossible for Catholics and other Christians to simply work in the United States without violating their consciences.

There are many other dangers lurking as well. In 2008, homeschooling was declared illegal in California by a state appellate court. The situation was rectified but could easily happen again in California or anywhere else in the country. Truly, all of our liberties as Christians in the United States hang by a thread, and we are largely dependent upon the good graces of an increasingly hostile government.

So – no firing squads or death camps in the coming “soft” persecution, but the gradual loss of economic livelihood – and increasing alienation from the social, political, educational, cultural, and commercial life of the nation.

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Well, that cheered me up. I’ll know this country might be on a return to sanity when the states rescind their laws requiring insurance coverage of anyone’s contraceptives, anywhere at any time. I wish the blogmaster’s wife could start her own pharmacy.

About

I’m a married father of six, a traditional Catholic, and a fourth-generation Californian living in Chico. In this space you can expect commentary on religion, culture, politics, local history, and things of personal interest. The title of this weblog is an allusion to an obscure bit of Chico history linking the forest in our neighborhood to the mystical Sherwood Forest of merrie olde England. I can be reached by e-mail at: jeff dot culbreath at gmail dot com.

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"If a conservative order is indeed to return, we ought to know the tradition which is attached to it, so that we may rebuild society; if it is not to be restored, still we ought to understand conservative ideas so that we may rake from the ashes what scorched fragments of civilizations escape the conflagration of unchecked will and appetite."
- Russell Kirk